Halo Wars 2 - Awakening the Nightmare
by Writing1sLife
Summary: "I told you... Not. To go. Inside."
1. Chapter 1

"What Could Go Wrong?"

 **Three Months. Nearly three whole months since the war between the Banished and U.N.S.C. began. The relics of the time from when the Covenant still existed, crew of the Spirit of Fire and the Banished lead by Atriox, had been at war with each other over the course of two to three whole days before settling down. Since the unbelievable conclusion that sent the new Halo through slip space, a bitter war of attrition has settled over Installation 00, briefly disrupted only by the attempt of the enigmatic being named Colony to destroy the Spirit of Fire using a Despair-class Forerunner ship on May 1** **st** **, 2559. The battle for resources is a telling one in a war of attrition; one in which you are fighting for every inch of ground you can grab. Thus, Atriox calls a meeting with two of his chief lieutenants…**

. . . . . . .

 **(June 4** **th** **, 2559. Location: Banished Headquarters, Atriox's inner chamber)**

The holograms utilized by the Banished were scarlet red and tinted with orange in certain areas depending upon the image. A massive image dominated the center of room. Atriox, cold and terrible, gave orders in simple fashion. The two lieutenants upon the other side of the holo-table stood grimly, and equally hardened in facial expression, simply listening.

The briefing finished, Atriox dismissed them with a flat gesture and the two briefly bowed, then turned and simply exited in silence. Atriox observed them depart, then returned his attention to the image of the massive wreck that was their target. His own thoughts were private, and had become even more secretive, cold, and calculated since the losses in the previous conflict. Times were desperate and there was no denying it or avoiding it. An army, especially one as large and powerful as his, literally marched upon its stomach and the resources it gathered.

. . . . . . .

Clunk. Clunk. The two Brutes walked down the corridor with the intent to carry out their War Chieftain's will. The two were similar in appearance, yet the one who walked on the far right was taller by a foot and older. They also sported differences in their armor for the older Brute had the protective plate on his left shoulder, while the younger had his right shoulder guarded, indicating that he was left handed.

Both of them were unique amongst their brethren in that they possessed no facial hair, the younger having a buzz cut like a human in the military, complete with metallic pieces adorning the sides of his head near his ears; the better to receive intel and communicate. The older was completely bald on the scalp, yet he possessed the most piercing red eyes, and carried himself with a confident, yet reserved, stride, as if every movement was intended to be made with calculated precision. The red eyes of the younger, burned with a casual arrogance, if not reckless confidence, and he walked with seeming indifference to what was around him; as if he could not be touched, or even die.

"Do not disobey your orders again," said the tall one, his tone dead serious.

"Heh-heh-heh."

CHANK! Teeth bared, eyes blazing like scarlet flame, the taller one instantly turned on his companion, and seized his right arm in grip of iron. The shorter one looked a little confused, and slightly wounded, that he was being treated so roughly. "Scout the shell. Salvage the ships," the taller continued his voice firm and commanding. "That. Is. It!"

"Atriox was clear," he continued his voice softer and more concerned, yet pressing with desperation to drive home his point.

A smug grin broke out on the other's features. "I'll look around," he smiled yanking his right arm out of the other's grip. He and his companion continued forward to where their weapons waited. "And if we find any prizes to bring back," he continued with a chuckle, placing his left hand inside the double-bladed gauntlet that fastened on his arm and retracted its blade into the sheaths, "how could that go wrong?" He smiled the predatory smile of a Great White, yet one filled with arrogance, and a desire for self-sought glory.

"Voridus," firmly stated the other, "listen." He pointed with his left hand back down towards the meeting chamber, for his weapon now was attached unto his right hand, "You fail him just one more time _trying_ to prove yourself and… I will not be able to save you." He let the silence hang for a moment to let everything sink in, and then drove the final nail home. "And it will be both our skulls beneath his mace." Everyone knew that Chainbreaker was ever-present at Atriox's side, waiting to be stained with blood.

"Relax brother," stated Voridus with a smile, then he offered his right arm, cocked at a ninety-degree bend. The two pressed elbows and forearms together before breaking apart in a cross that brought their limbs across their breast plates, a customary form of salute amongst the Banished. Then Voridus calmly walked towards the door to the outside as it opened with a hiss. He turned back. "You worry to much," he said with a laughing smile on his face, and then calmly headed out towards the waiting Lich and those under his command.

His brother shook his head with a grimace and eyes closed in resignation. _No brother. If I did worry too much, then I would be doing just enough for the both of us. Please, this time… don't… do anything rash. If I were to lose you… then there will be no place left in the Banished for me._

. . . . . . .

" _Pavium, we are ready to move towards High Charity. My men are impatient for glory."_

" _Put a leash on them Voridus! The terrain here at the Support Site is unsuitable for our Power extractors. I am still working upon a solution; and your men would do well to remember that whatever we find here, belongs to Atriox."_

" _This war has tamed you brother! Where is your Jiralhanae lust for adventure? That relic is ripe for plunder!"_

" _This war has_ taught _me, Voridus. Stay. Your. Hand. Once we reach High Charity, we shall need to move quickly in order to avoid the wrath of the Sentinels that defend it."_

" _Yes, yes, I am quite well aware of what we face here. Hurry your preparations old one! I already have troops on the ground. Voridus out."_

. . . . . . .

Two Brute Squads and two Reavers were out scouting in the woods. The instructions were simple: find anything of value, remove it before anyone else did, and _don't waste time doing it_! That was a Brute for you, particularly Voridus. All was according to orders until new ones came. The most imposing, in terms of attitude, of the Commanders placed a hand to the ear piece in his helmet. Then he barked out loud his orders without any consideration for who might hear him as he led them down the path. "This way whelps, there's weapons to be salvaged from High Charity, and Vordius commands us to return to base for new orders."

A Grunt yelped out amongst the eight that accompanied the Commander and Sub-Commander, "Did you say Hight Charity?! The Covenant capital-place?"

"I heard it was haunted!" yelled another in fear. "Scary monsters everywhere!"

"Whoa man!" cried out the first his arms waving wildly, "Back off the gas!"

"Silence!" thundered the Brute, somehow getting even louder. "Those lies do not concern me!" He began to stomp down the path. "And that means that they do not concern _you_!"

"Let's get moving already!" snapped one of the Reavers. "I want a fight. This ridiculous and boring 'search' is starting to grind my bones to dust."

A group of three Banshees flew slowly overhead past the trees. As the squad and Reavers moved down the path, there was a break in the trees to their right accompanied by the sounds of weapon fire. Three Banshees were engaged in aerial combat against five machines, not counting those who were patrolling. "Beware," came the calm voice of an Elite over comms, "Sentinels in the area."

The concentrated fire from the guardian machines of the Ark took down one Banshee before the other's joined in. At this same time, the scavengers finally came upon the scene. "At last!" said the Reaver from earlier, "Some action!" He launched a barrage at the machines without hesitation. Due to their anti-air missiles, the Sentinels quickly met their end. "Ha-ha! I _love_ this thing!"

"Voridus," came the calm voice of Pavium over comms, "from what I am observing at my position, there are many Sentinels amassing near the salvage site. It is quite possible that they are guarding, rather than protecting, something within High Charity itself."

"The old stories and tales of the parasite?" snorted Voridus as he continued with his preparations. "Nothing but Covenant propaganda and lies from the Prophets, old friend. You just handle the Sentinels near you and allow me to handle the ones here. We'll have what we need in no time."

A short, rounding turn to the right, and the wreckage of the capital-ship came into view…along with the countless numbers of forms in the air flying all around it. "Whoa!" yelled a Grunt, standing near the cliff edge and seeing all the activity. "That's a lot of Sentinels!"

"Grar!" yelled the Commander, promptly clubbing the Grunt from the rear with a left fist, the smaller creature falling flat with a squawk of surprise.

"Hey," called another Grunt. "Whatcha do that for? He merely open his mouth and—" The Commander spun with a glare in the speaker's direction. "…And… he… get what he got comin'," the Grunt finished slowly, head hung, pulling out of whatever was going on.

With a roar, two Banshees flew past their heads in pursuit of one of the guardian machines. "Pavium, our air forces are engaging with Sentinels near High Charity."

The group of Banished troops turned from the sight of their objective to find… "Gah! What fool turned off the lightbridge?"

"Aw, too bad," piped the bruised Grunt. "Guess somebody else will have ta deal with those Sentinels!"

"Cowards! I shall punt you into the void!" yelled the Brute. He turned to vehicular companions, "Reavers! Reactivate the lightbridge! Now!" The anti-air walkers activated their incredible leaping abilities with a blast of the thrusters built at the rear of the machine. Landing with tremendous force, they then stomped over to the control panel. One pilot hopped out of his walker, looking annoyed to have to get out, interacted with the interface, and then promptly rushed to get back into the seat once the bridge was up.

A Lich flew by overhead accompanied by two Spirits. One dropped off what once was a Type-30 Locust, now repurposed by the Banished. "Ooh! Covenant stuff! Retro!" squeaked an Unggoy, clapping his hands like a little kid at the sight. The Commander grimaced but said nothing.

"Troops," came the voice of Voridus over Comms, "I am sending in a Locust to help clear the path for you."

"We turn back?" said another Grunt, nervously, while the four-legged mining platform, now remade as an infamous "building-killer", trained its cannon upon the barrier of metal barring the way.

The Commander leaned over the little creature until they were face to face so his foul breath, stinking of raw meat, along with his visible teeth, were unavoidable. "You can return with salvaged goods," he exhaled nastily, then he bared teeth in a feral smile, "or as meat on a platter for the _real_ soldiers. Your choice."

"Choice made! Let's blast it!" yelped the Grunt, now quite motivated. "Ai-yayayayaya-yaaaaahhh! Die you wall thingy! Die!" yelled the Grunt focusing his plasma pistol, pitiful thing that it was for this task, on the obstruction.

The debris in front of them was a piece of the half-finished Installation 08. It fell without too much hassle thanks to the Locust. A group of four Grunts under another Brute were in front of a glowing case a short way down the path. It bore the designs and appearance of those utilized by the Covenant to supply power. "Brothers!" said the Brute putting away the tool with which he was analyzing the case and its contents along with two of the Unggoy, "We found these Covenant supply cases on our way to the base."

"Then don't waste time with your scanning toys!" yelled the Commander. "Smash it open!" he continued promptly opening fire with his companions following suit. The container quickly met its demise and spilled forth its contents of yellow cylinders of raw, compressed energy. "See how easy that was? Now come with us!" The troops quickly gathered up the containers.

"This way brothers!" called the one, "Our base is down this path."

Only twelve feet down the path a Grunt yelped in panic. "Ahh! Robot things!" Another squad was engaged in a firefight with them but struggled due to their numbers.

"Sentinels!" growled the Commander. "Reavers, destroy them!"

The Thrasher missiles did their job well, and the unstable energy cannon of the Locust was a plus for it had considerable range, though it wasn't very effective against machinery.

"Eep! Behind us!" yelled another Grunt when the group encountered another trio of Sentinels.

"More of those cursed machines! And now their trying to attack us from two sides! Stay alert!"

"Brothers, our base is just up ahead," said the second Commander. "And the enemy is here already!" He slapped his hand to his comms unit. "The base is being harassed by drones and Guard Sentinels!"

"My Orbital Designator shows that they are coming out of a nearby launching bay," came Pavium's calm reply. "Voridus. You need to deal with that. I am afraid destroying it is pointless; it's too tough. And one question: why is your base all but where the Sentinel presence is at its most concentrated?"

"Because I need my troops to be close to High Charity of course. And don't fear, one of my new toys should deal with the Sentinels." His orders came quickly. "Plant a disruption emitter at the bay! It's EMP field will stun and disable the machines. Then it shall be a simple matter of destroying them."

One of the many Spirits the Banished employed dropped a cylindrical object that crashed with a sparking, crackling explosion in the dirt near the circular bay. It promptly planted itself upon four claws so it could not be easily moved, and then a field that disabled electronics formed into a dome surrounding it in a twenty-foot radius.

"Voridus, the EMP field from the emitter is fluctuating."

"I made few improvements to it is all. Now it is able to affect a much larger area."

"Your 'improvements' have shortened the duration of the field. You will have to replace in half the time you would normally. Instead of a ten to fifteen-minute intervals, now you may have only five to seven minutes tops. You should have informed me of this before you just decided to act."

"Why waste time? It works does it not?" He turned his attention to his troops. "Now, we will need plenty of defenses. Get turrets in place and upgrade them with anti-air armaments. Make sure that we also have Reavers on the ground."

"We are on it now Voridus. We are also calling in some Engineers. A Foundry shall be here shortly to provide our troops with vehicular support. While we're at it, a Shield Tower is already in the midst of deployment."

"Good, good. We have a little time before we make our move. Search the surrounding area for any more supplies you may be able to find."

A few turrets at the site where the bay rested helped ease the tension the troops felt. Spirits were dropping in the requested buildings and equipment. An Extractor in order to help supply the necessary energy into creating the weapons and other equipment, enhancing the Harvester so that it generated more supply for the base, and taking a nearby Forerunner Tower to increase energy intake.

"Voridus, upon request, I have made my Orbital Designator available to you and your troops. It will help spot the launching bays."

"Four minutes left troops," said Voridus. "Make ready in that time frame. We cannot afford to sit idle, lest the humans or something else find us. We cannot also afford to let the Sentinels overrun us; we have placed too much into this for it to fail."

"But of course." The smallest of the squads entrenched near the shielded base in a garrison. The rest, alongside the Locust and Reavers, headed through a nearby ravine. "Voridus! We have run into a human scouting party!" called the sub-Commander as they engaged two squads of Marines, a group of Hellbringers, and two Warthogs that had accompanied them. They were attacking a pair of Reavers backed up to a dead end in the cliffs.

"Humans? Why are they here? I have bigger matters to attend to, but maybe I can spare another unit or two. Kill them and save the troops if you can. Gather anything of value nearby as well," commanded Voridus.

"Drones online," said the Unggoy driver of the Locust, while a pair of Banshees and a Marauder joined the assault. The combined firepower, and temporary invulnerability afforded by the healing nano-machines, gave the Banished troops the edge they needed. An Engineer began tending to the injured, while the two drivers that had been ambushed joined the rest of the force.

"Voridus, the party was too far out here to not have a base close by. We may have more than Sentinels to deal with on the way to High Charity. Should we abort?"

"We do not abort! We are going through with this! Atriox commands, and we obey! We are the Banished! We shall take what we want, and none shall prevent us from doing just that!"

The allotted timetable established by Voridus was nearly up. The troop withdrew to the base. Another bay was discovered through the Designator but thankfully, the shield combined with three enhanced turrets provided for strong resistance even for the Guard Sentinels; but another bay meant having to spend their resources to flank the bay with turrets and utilize another emitter.

"Voridus," came the calm yet concerned voice of Pavium, "you are about to face more Sentinels than you ever have before. Please tell me that you have a plan."

"I'm putting it into action right now." A rushing sound of wind. A thunderous rumbling of the atmosphere as something massive hurtled through it. A resounding impact and cratering of the earth. The smoke and dust rippled and parted to reveal... a Scarab.

"Very subtle," groaned Pavium, having no struggle guessing what had happened. Everyone knew the sound of a Scarab being deployed on to the field. Pavium was inwardly cringing at Voridus' plan. He was intending to simply push, by sheer force, through every last machine guarding High Charity _and_ any replacements that the Ark built.

"Pavium, we have placed markers along the route for your Scarab," spoke a Brute. A Spirit had flown by over the path, and with the scanning equipment's aid, had left a series of red, glowing spheres which lit the path over which the enhanced Scarab now slowly stomped down. It was a "Volatile" Scarab, for the tanks which occupied parts of the machine's bulk. What was inside the containers was known only to Voridus.

The humongous machine continued with stomping steps past the base until it ran into a wall. Pavium was at the helm of the enhanced Scarab and he promptly trained its beam of plasma upon the obstacle. "There is still so much wreckage left around High Charity. It will take some time to carve through it all. The next time that the Covenant lose a war, I hope that they clean up after themselves!" Voridus chuckled at his own joke though only a number of his troops joined in it. Most were still focused upon the task of rushing to make ready.

They still had the Locust, four Reavers, and five squads from the beginning, but they needed better numbers than that. They now had three Engineers to aid them, two Marauders, and four Banshees. Another two to three Reavers were in production and their pilots were almost ready to be dropped in. There was a sense of anticipation but also of urgency in the air that did not have to be voiced aloud for all felt it.

"We should proceed with caution brother," urged Pavium. "There are very strange readings coming from inside the wreckage. You yourself know the tales of the Gravemind and the corruption that it spread within High Charity." He paused. "If true… then it could be a greater than even the Covenant were."

"Bah. More lies from the Prophets and their delusions. Even if there _was_ such a threat, any 'monsters' would be long dead by now. There is no need for concern except the Sentinels, and the humans."

"I've almost cleared the wreckage. Be ready to move!" With a crash, the wall of broken metal and earth fell away into nothing. "Fall before me!" laughed Voridus. "Now, move out on me!"

A short distance past the barricade and the Scarab was under attack. "Pavium, we have encountered a new Forerunner defense system – turrets."

"The area that surrounds High Charity is more heavily fortified than anywhere else upon the whole of the Ark. It is clear to me that we are treading where we should not."

"The Banished go where they want and destroy any who oppose! Is not the rise of Atriox proof of this?" insisted Voridus as he trained the Scarab's weapons upon the nearest turret.

"Atriox proceeded to utilize cunning, as well as strength. A wise warrior does not engage in a fight with an unknown foe."

A few Sentinels appeared upon the scene and began firing at the Scarab just as the first turret fell. "If I lose this Scarab," threatened Voridus, "I shall proceed to make a new one, starting with the bones of those responsible!" The Reavers quickly moved to surround and intercept the airborne threat while the Engineers began to mend the damage and provide defense, while the Marauders and three squads attacked the second turret.

The troops were hard-pressed to keep up despite the Scarab not being the swiftest of machines. Voridus kept up a grueling pace, halted only by any turrets he encountered, until he reached another wall of earth and metal. He promptly set the machine to work on carving through this hindrance, ignoring the nearby bay, so that the Reavers were forced into dealing with it for the endless stream of drones and occasional Guard that it produced. A timely emitter prevented any loss of troops but sacrificed an emitter near one of the bays close to the base. There were simply too many to keep under constant exposure to the emp fields, and the further they pushed down the path, the deeper they were into hostile territory with no true exit. One false move, and they would pay with their lives, but his troops placed their faith in Voridus and his plan.

Those who served under Pavium might have objected, but they were merely soldiers, not lieutenants. They followed orders, even if they didn't like them. Still, they would have looked upon the reckless confidence of Voridus as a death wish in this instance. Kroom! "Now let's get going!" Voridus stated, pushing the Scarab onward without waiting for the troops.

He knew better than to wait, because it was death in this plan to stop moving. A mobile target could not so easily be taken down, Voridus knew this, thus he kept urgently pressing forward; plus, he was eager to prove himself successful in this moment. If he succeeded… he could just taste the admiration and rewards that would be his. Not even Decimus could pull off a feat like this.

The Orbital Designator was helping to keep an eye out for anymore launching bays, but it demanded energy and needed to recharge for a short period after each use. So far, no troops had been lost, and the Engineers were helping to ensure that all injuries were quickly mended. Still, one hole in their defense would be all that was needed for their ranks to begin dwindling. Another, much smaller wall of wreckage quickly disappeared under the onslaught of the plasma beam and fire of the Banished troops. And behind it was…

"The humans are here! They will not stop us from taking what we want! Wipe them out!" roared Voridus. Then he switched over to his brother. "Pavium, the humans are here. We are engaging."

"What? If they managed to slip underneath our scans of the area, then they must be in small number. Merely a reconnaissance mission no doubt."

"Then I shall make certain they report nothing back." With that, he directed the Scarab's weapons upon the closest Warthog. Another Marauder and three Banshees came speeding to the sight of conflict. A few stray Sentinels were engaged in combat with the troops from the Spirit of Fire. "Disable those turrets!" commanded Voridus. His order was an accurate one, sensing where the threat was strongest.

The Locust focused its firepower on the main structure alongside the Scarab and the Reavers disposed of the Nightingales. The Scarab did the heavy lifting while the troops disposed of the vehicles and a nearby entrenched squad of Marines. "The humans are sending in support I see. Make them regret it!" The Banshees picked off the rest and intercepted the reinforcements, while the Marauders slowed down any stray targets upon the ground so that there was no hope of escape.

"Hahahaha! I never grow tired of that sight!" laughed Voridus as the base exploded and crumbled into ruin. "Quickly!" he commanded. "Get that debris cleared away and call a new base down upon this location. We will need additional reinforcements in order to ensure this Scarab successfully reaches High Charity."

The reasoning, and tactic, was indeed a sound one. As Voridus steered the Scarab towards another nearby barricade of debris, and one of the Commanders began calling in a minibase, Pavium's voice intruded. "Voridus, from the size and shape of the shell, it would appear that large portions of High Charity remain intact."

"Which means," cut in Voridus excitedly, "that there are more weapons for us to plunder! This is most excellent news!"

"Atriox warned us _not_ to enter High Charity," came the stern reply. "Focus all of your efforts upon salvaging what remains around it."

The wall of debris was rather thick, so it was taking some time, even for the Scarab, and the rest of the troops were busy dealing with a steady number of drones coming from the path beyond the wall. "Voridus there is a problem upon my end of the salvage route. I am experiencing trouble with the salvage drills. The power that runs under the surface in this area is surprisingly unstable."

"What's the problem?" snorted Voridus impatiently, "Take it all."

"I am not certain if – in its unrefined state – the Extractors shall be able to handle it."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out brother," said Voridus without concern. "That's why I keep you around!"

Pavium sighed at that on his end. That was a bit rude of his brother to talk as if he was merely support. That was Voridus: master of sensitivity, king of wisdom and encouraging words, and, of course, supposedly invincible. Still, even if it was in an insensitive way, it was encouraging to hear him indirectly express confidence that he would find a way to solve the problem. His concern was what he was seeing upon the designator. He had taken a good number of scans near High Charity and had spotted two strategically placed bays near where the path would lead towards a suitable path for the Scarab to descend.

"One side insects!" yelled Voridus resuming the march through the cloud of dust. The air was choked with thrasher missiles as the Reavers went to work on the endless Sentinels. The Banshee's cannons thundered endlessly as they sought to control the skies. Three of their number had fallen and Engineer had met its end while providing an overshield. Replacements were on the way, but the fighting was starting to get thick, and it was getting difficult to manage the endless stream of machines determined to eliminate them.

"Ambush!" yelled Voridus spotting the nearby bay. "Disrupt it now!" A quick and timely deployment would have been welcome, but it was not quick in coming.

"I _hate_ these things! Why must they plague me?" Voridus was still marching onward, but the relentless push was maneuvering the Scarab out of cover fire. "Curse these infernal things! Bad enough that humans are here." Finally, an emitter slammed into the ground near the bay, but it felt like an eternity for the weary troops and frustrated Voridus.

The troops caught up along with a few reinforcements. A nearby deactivated Lightbridge briefly halted them, but one of the commanders quickly dealt with it. Speed and time were of the essence, and they were so close. The cliff edge was in sight! That was the thought of all. High Charity was well within visible range now.

Voridus briefly halted the Scarab and handed over the controls before disembarking, speaking to his brother as he did so. "Pavium, I have found some kind of Forerunner interface nearby High Charity and more Sentinels on patrol accompanied by turret defenses. I am investigating. This may solve more than one problem."

"Be careful Voridus. There is still so much, even after all this time, that we still don't know about the Forerunners and their enigmatic technology. You may end up making things worse for yourself."

"Don't fret brother. I can handle it," he said beginning to interact with the images before him. "Scarab commander, push forward, continue smashing through the wreckage." Only specified brutes were allowed to pilot a Volatile Scarab in the absence of Voridus. He trusted few with such a machine of his creation. Those who passed his test, made certain that they continued to perform worthy of the duty that was theirs.

"Protect the Scarab while I try and deactivate these aggravating defenses." The troops pushed onward and threw all of their combined firepower on the obstruction. "Ah!" said Voridus with gladness, "It would appear that it has several security levels to prevent itself from being shut down. Probably to avoid accidents or intent. And, the first level should be done when I do… this!" A whirring hum emanated from the structure. "Yes! It worked! That is the first level deactivated!"

A few Reavers had to promptly divert from the main force in order to prevent a few Guard Sentinels from attacking their leader. A Huragok accompanied them. "Voridus! The Sentinel attacks have increased in ferocity and number!" urgently called the Scarab commander.

"Come to see who's undoing all your work eh?" commented Voridus fingers deftly flitting across the controls. "Destroy them! I'm not finished here yet! Use the emitters! Use everything that we have at our disposal! Nothing must stop our Scarab from reaching its destination!"

The battle continued with missiles and lasers filling the air as the Banished forces and the machines clashed. They were advancing forward, but at a much slower pace than before. "Keep the Scarab moving!" urged Voridus. "I have breached the second level of security. I just need a little time to deactivate it." This was the true value that Voridus brought to the Banished ranks: an intuitive grasp of Forerunner technology, even if on a limited level.

"Voridus," came the Scarab commander's urgent voice again, "The number of Sentinels has increased again!"

"Then _deal_ with them!" he snapped. "Use everything that you have!"

"We are! But against such odds we cannot hold for long! Whatever you're doing, hurry!"

"Quiet! This thing is hardly quick to yield answers." The last he muttered to himself under his breath.

"All right!" yelled a squad commander as the last Forerunner turret fell. "Now, let's get moving! Our orders await us!"

Voridus gave a growl of frustration. "Every time I think I've solved it… wait! This looks promising!" His eyes continued to flick and dart about while his hands weaved to and from. "Mysteries!" he snorted. "Those were what kept the Covenant blinkered and weak! We shall smash through all of them!"

"Almost there… Yes! This should be it."

"The Sentinels are sending even more against us now!"

"They are getting desperate!" replied Voridus with confidence. "I must be getting close! I almost have you done for good, pests!"

"We are on approach to High Charity now Voridus!" called the Scarab commander.

"At last Pavium! I hope that your pack are ready to carry back the riches we find!"

"Stay on the alert you fool!" came Pavium's angry and harsh reply. "There is a massive and highly concentrated wave of Sentinels flying in your direction!"

"We are not pulling out! Because we shall win!" replied Voridus.

"Voridus!" yelled the Scarab commander in panic, "The Ark has dispatched Retrievers! There are _two_ barring the path! And more are coming in to surround! We cannot hold against this!"

"I did warn you, and now you cannot fall back from there! You are going to be surrounded and isolated before you are slaughtered!" yelled Pavium.

"I tire of these insolent things!" yelled Voridus. "I will use this thing to deactivate them once and for all! They will not interfere with us! We shall triumph! It is inevitable!"

"We are not doing any real damage! As fast as we strike, they begin to self-repair! How are we supposed to stop them?" yelled the Scarab commander in order to be heard.

"Just keep them busy!" called back Voridus. "I am at the heart of their defenses. All I need is the proper configuration…"

The drones flashed in a green circle around the Scarab. Its red shield took a pounding from the Guard Sentinels and Retriever's focused cannon-like blasts or beam weapon. The pack was beginning to sustain losses. Injuries and damage were being inflicted faster than they could be healed.

Then the Retrievers spat and sizzled energy along their frames and parts began to go haywire before departing, while the Guard Sentinels promptly exploded alongside a number of their smaller cousins. The rest simply left abandoning their attack. "It is done!" howled Voridus triumphantly. "The defensed shall trouble us no more!" Voridus abandoned the platform he had stood upon and rushed to return to the Scarab while his weary troops gave a ragged cheer.

"Remember brother," came Pavium's firm voice, "our orders are to leave the shell intact. There should be plenty of salvage to find for us to retrieve around the perimeter."

"So you have said many times over," complained Voridus as the Scarab began to stomp down the rubble near High Charity. "I can handle myself brother. Voridus, out."

He brought the Scarab down so that it was facing the shell straight on… and fired. The red beam of unstable energy carved a large half-circle into the wreck under Voridus' skilled hand. "It's time to claim what's ours inside," he said unable to contain himself anymore. "Go brothers! It's time to get our reward!"

 **. . . . . .**

 **"Mankind spread out into the stars with an unexpected & desperate violence. Entire galaxies fell before the Didact's warrior-servants rose to halt the aggression. When he exhausted the humans... after a millennia... his sentence was severe. We had no way of knowing that the Forerunners were not your only enemy. Too late we realized the truth: humanity hadn't been expanding... they were _running_."  
**

 **"Know this, relentless enemy, killer of our children, Lord of Admirals; soon we shall face the enemy you have faced... and we are _afraid_."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Breach in the Dark**

A large half-crescent moon dotted the landscape before the forcefield surrounding High Charity. It was now open in the place where the Volatile Scarab's plasma beam had carved into it and half a circle formed the entrance into the dark. Voridus calmly tilted his head, gesturing to the gaping hole as the burning trees fell behind him. A squad of three brutes moved forward; the rest remained seated or standing by the assortment of Ghosts, Reavers, and Choppers they rode. They were the initial patrol sent to determine what artifacts were there to plunder. The trio consisted of two brutes wielding hammers flanking one who wielded a Spiker. They looked fearsome in their crimson and black armor. Horns protruded from their helms; one for the flankers accompanied by mouth guards, and two for the gunner, making them look more gruesome. The idea was to intimidate, and also to guard so none could easily target their faces from any angle.

Down into the dark they descended, the clunk of their armored feet against metal the only sound. The air became moist and sticky, and there appeared to be something floating in the air like dust particles. It was actually hot inside this place. Strangely, there seemed to be nothing but useless metal lying around. This ship had not been touched or disturbed since the end of the war. The atmosphere swirled toxic green as one kicked aside some of the more "worthless" parts with a clanking sound. Unnoticed, something that was immobile... moved. The shadows were constant in this place. The brutes carried no light sources with them. Despite not finding anything of value yet, they continued to look, for it was just a matter of time until they found something. High Charity had been the center of the Covenant and species from all over came to visit the "holy place" before its infestation and subsequent destruction. The capital-ship was enormous, so Voridus would not be surprised if it took them some time before they found plunder.

 _Tink_. The spiker raised his weapon with a growl. That sound had not come from either of his companions. They scanned the shadows, hammers half raised, yet not brandished. A squeak or some bubbling, hissing sound. From behind a table. A sticky chorus of pattering across the floor. A hissing, shrieking thing raced at them. The first spike missed; the second and third got the spitting, squealing thing just as it reached the muzzle of the brute's weapon. The balloon-like creature, roughly the size of a human's torso, was pinned by the red-hot spike. It died instantly. The gunner nudged it to be sure. No reaction. All three chuckled nervously at the sudden surprise. So something had survived…after all this time... But it was nothing in the end. No monsters. The dark was getting to them. Atriox...

 **RRREAAAIEEEEKKKK!**

The gunner growled and squinted at the curving, circular hallway to his left. Screeching, screaming, shrieking noises emanated from down it along with poison-yellow light. Then the hall to the _right_. More noises and light. Shadows began to dance on the walls from movement. A rustling chorus of limbs on the floor. The flankers brandished their gravity hammers. They saw nothing. All they heard was that horrible noise; while the gunner scanned for something to shoot. Where? _Where_?

Then he saw it and his eyes widened with unspeakable terror. His weapon arm sank down to his side and hung uselessly. All three took steps back out of fear, but were unable to look away. The gunner's weapon fell helplessly from his trembling hand. His mind had simply become overwhelmed by… _fear_ ; such overwhelming, terrible, infectious, fear. He…couldn't…they…

Sounds echoed up the entrance to the surface. Cries of panic, followed by yells of pain, cracking and snapping. Almost sounded like a fight. Voridus frowned at that and turned back towards the hole. What in the name of Dosiac was going on? The noise stopped. The silence that overwhelmed everything was nerve-breaking. The sun had risen now so that light was visibly shining on the entrance. _What was happening down there?_ That was the thought on all minds.

A sound in the distance: dragging, sluggish footsteps; gasping, choked breathing. It sounded like one of the squad was coming back, but they were coming back far too slowly. Voridus squinted, and then grimaced at the figure. Mist pooled near the entrance, accompanied by a wave of moist heat, creating a disturbing atmosphere and shrouding the hole and blackness beyond. The stumbling figure looked almost like… A brute stepped forward to help his injured companion.

Clunk. " **NO**." Voridus had finally spoken, growled, barring passage with his left hand. All the brutes that were sitting rose to attention. The tone of their leader had awakened something inside all of them. He never sounded so dead serious as he did now; so _grim_.

The Jiralhanae that had stumbled back to the surface was now a living nightmare. His armor was breached, broken and cracked, and all could now see the truth of him. This was not one of their brothers, but a _thing_ , a false imitation that could not conceal the ugly, terrifying reality of what it now was. The left arm ended in a three-fingered hand that was composed of resin-like substance or worse. The face and body were a living nightmare to behold. Grotesque, bloated, pulsing sacks and deformities covered the exposed skin on the infected brute. His left leg was covered in more of the gross mutations, pustules, and deformities, bent at an unnatural angle to the side with exposed bone. His face was half-hidden on the right side behind the disgusting mutations that had taken over. It sagged on the left side with the eye drooping atop tentacles the extended from underneath the socket.

All felt their hearts skip a beat in horror. All were standing now, hammer and gun-wielder, eyes fixated on the husk of their dead companion… but most of all on the _darkness_ beyond. "Prepare yourselves," Voridus stated grimly placing his mouth-guard on his face, helmet extending to cover his head. KA-SNING! rang the blades of his left gauntlet, as they extended from their sheathed position. The Raiders backed up, weapons held in clenched hands. The twitching form before the entrance merely stood there. The ground began to shake. Then the thing that had been a brute screamed in an unnatural voice as the darkness behind it _erupted_ with countless forms. Primal fear that had arisen inside all, now exploded.

The ground was instantly covered in grotesque shapes, balloon-like and spherical, all shrieking and squealing with horrific limbs flailing everywhere as the raiders desperately fought back. The Carbine-wielders struggled to bring their weapons to bear because the smaller parasites kept leaping at them. Voridus kicked one away, slashed another in two with a back-handed slice, swung around and clove another asunder. A Spiker kept firing as calmly as he could tracking a rolling form on the ground. It stayed just ahead of his shots and then "jumped" with an impossible leap into the air revealing an inhuman frame with false limbs.

Whatever this-this "abomination" was, it was not what was expected of the parasite even by its unnatural standards. It possessed a bulbous "body", supported by two long legs, and two arms ending in tentacles. It was humanoid in a faint sense. The right "arm" lashed out and snapped the single whip around the Spiker's left arm causing him to drop his weapon by pained reflex as the whip tightened. He growled and attempted to pull away. The two engaged in pulling against the other on the swarmed, writhing ground. The abomination held its ground, and a companion came flying out of nowhere and slid on the ground catching the immobile brute with its own whip on the right leg. He went down and was instantly overwhelmed by the smaller parasites as the bigger ones dragged him away.

WH-SPLAG! Voridus clubbed another of the larger forms from behind him with a backwards right fist as it charged. It flopped on to the ground and he crushed its glowing, bulbous head under his foot staining his armor with fluorescent goo. Another of those agile things had grabbed a brute's hammer in mid-swing and was straining against him. These things seemed hell-bent on pinning down or immobilizing targets for the smaller ones to infect. Voridus launched one of the blades from his gauntlet and the abomination's whip hand was severed. The hammer-wielder gave a roar and brought the weapon in a large, over-arching, one-handed swing that slammed it on the ground. The space within a 4.5 meter radius was cleared by the crackling blast of energy emitted scattering the forms around his feet, along with his his assailant. Impossibly, the injured abomination righted itself in midair and lashed out with its _left_ limb, this one containing many whips like an untwisted collection of vines. It seized the brute by the head and gave a vicious pull causing him to groan in pain as his neck was yanked back at an unnatural angle.

Voridus had spent another blade and re-primed his gauntlet, only for his left arm to be seized by one of the abominations, and then another got him from the right. The left assailant used a tree for an anchor, while both pulled mightily against his arms holding him immobile and helpless. He looked and saw his men being overwhelmed. His soldiers were desperately fighting in complete disarray amidst the squealing, shrieking mass of parasites that kept trying to breach their armor to get at the flesh beneath. If one brute went down, the other attempted to get him back up before he was swarmed, yet the parasites were being aided by these massive, humanoid things that were isolating them. Two more brutes went down and the smaller Infectors were upon them, crawling all over.

"AAARRRRHHHH!" With a mighty roar, Voridus gave a vicious pull with his left arm unbalancing the one attacker holding him. Blades sprouted from the gauntlet at the rear near his elbow. He thrust back impaling the one and rotating as he did so to throw the other on the ground freeing his right arm. He stomped with vicious force on its head sending more yellow, fluorescent liquid spraying on to the ground. He primed his gauntlet and continued to hack and slash alongside those still standing. Those few Raiders that remained of the original pack fought on, desperation fueling their every move. Primal fear and desperation. And all the while, the writhing mass spread out from the hole and poured out across the landscape, blanketing it like their name. The sun rose upon the great nightmare of all creation released anew once more. Desperation and ancient fear were always left in its wake. The Flood had returned. All of creation was in peril once again; and soon the Ark itself would fall.

 **. . . . . .**

 **"I? I am a monument to all of your sins."**

 **"Do not be afraid. I am peace; I am salvation."**

 **"I am a timeless chorus. Join your voice with mine, and sing victory everlasting."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Fighting Retreat**

 _ **"Our urge to create is immutable; we must create. But the beings we create shall never again reach out in strength against us. All that is created will suffer. All will be born in suffering, endless grayness shall be their lot. All creation will tailor to failure and pain, that never again shall the offspring of the eternal Fount rise up against their creators. Listen to the silence. Ten million years of deep silence. And now, whimpers and cries; not of birth. That is what we bring: a great crushing weight to press down youth and hope. No more will. No more freedom. Nothing new but agonizing death and never good shall come of it. We are the last of those who gave you breath and form, millions of years ago. We are the last of those your kind defied and ruthlessly destroyed. We are the last Precursors. And now we are**_ **legion** _ **."**_

— **The Gravemind to Catalog in the endgame of the Forerunner-Flood War.**

 **. . . . . .**

 **(June 4th, 2559. Location: Salvage Route, fifteen miles from High Charity. Time: 15 minutes since breach)**

"Pavium, our troops are on route now to perform salvage extraction from the nearby ships."

"Good. If Voridus has listened unto me then he shall be doing the same from around High Charity. Have you had word from him?"

"No, no further communications since he and his Brutes approached High Charity after disabling the defenses."

Pavium sighed. "Unsurprising. No doubt he has picked a fight with some Sentinels near there, but he should have reported in. No matter." It was not the first time that Voridus had to be reminded in order to keep him focused upon his task. Pavium calmly turned his attention to his pack. Still, there was feeling deep within… a small prickle of fear…

He had often felt things about his brother though he was out of sight. It was a connection that had no words. Somehow… he just knew. What was he feeling this time? Strange and foreign sensations. He shook his head slightly. He was wasting time. "Keep moving," he instructed over comms. "I want us to be ready for extraction as soon as possible. Commander, get the drills ready as soon as you can; I will join you in due time."

He looked over the terrain around where they stood. "Let us get to work. There are barriers barring the most suitable route. We need them cleared so I have a path for the salvage and Voridus' pack when they return." His eyes narrowed. What-what was…? Something out there…

"Voridus this is Pavium. Have you found anything outside the shell?" _Please tell me that my concern is for nothing._

"Pavium! Fall back, I warn you! We have been-kzzzttt…" The signal dissolved into unintelligible noise.

"Voridus? Respond!" Dead space. "Engineers! Get his comms feed back, now!" The squads with Pavium stiffened at his tone. Something was happening, all sensed it. A series of noises from the Huragok. They were perplexed… and scared. Something was wrong. They should have been able to gain a signal. Were they being jammed by an unseen force? A threat? What was happening?! What was he missing?

"Pavium! Movement! From High Charity!" All stiffened at this call from a Commander. The air. A scent. Something wrong; something that was malevolent.

What was that sound? A rustling, no, a rumbling in the ground. The sound of many feet. A great number of whatever it was that was coming their way. "Um?" squeaked a Grunt. "What that noise? Something bad?"

Closer the rumble came. Closer. _Closer_. Then, over a nearby ridge… "The rumors were true!" yelled Pavium. "What has that the fool done?!"

The many-limbed pods flowed over the ridge and leapt upon, over, and around the glowing blue Covenant supply cache in order to get at the three squads scanning it. "Run! Run!" yelled a grunt at the top of his voice, his tone reaching an unbelievable pitch and shrillness for his terror was so great.

The two frontmost squads did not flee, but instead stood their ground, before one grunt broke rank and turned to run, tripping up the commander by running into his legs, and accidently discharging his plasma pistol into the Brute's quad. The third squad successfully ran back to rejoin the others with Pavium.

"Coward!" yelled Pavium. "We shall hold the line here until I hear from Voridus and his troops!" His voice quivered with rage. "I will _not_ abandon them!"

"Don't let them touch you!" yelled a commander quickly organizing his unit alongside the ranks of the other commanders and grunts.

The lieutenant, accompanied by the ten squads with him, charged the swarm of infectors that remained along with the two infected Jiralhanae. The grunts had simply been killed while the commanders had been infected, and now they were nothing more than stumbling grotesque shells with only a driving instinct to kill anything that lived.

Pavium's mortar cannon struck the combat forms first before the spikes did. The infected Brutes went tumbling but staggered back up, only to take one step before the focused firepower "killed" them. The Infectors were struck down by spikes and quick-fire plasma blasts from the Unggoy.

"Destroy those who turn, they are no longer your allies!" called Pavium as a noise rippled through the air. "Into garrisons! DEFEND YOURSELVES!" Loyal and firmly unwavering in their devotion to their leader, the squads obeyed without hesitation.

Several garrisons had been established near the cliffs formed by wreckage from High Charity. The Banished did this simply out of organized routine as they were ever alert for enemies and ambushes. A noise that chilled down to the soul: The Flood. It was like some purring, rattling, hollow noise, but so inhuman as to let anything that heard know fear.

"We needa run!" yelped a scared grunt.

"Silence! Stand to attention!" barked the squad's commander. "Listen up wretches! We will follow our leader even against _these_ abominations!"

"Flood threat from the East!" shouted Pavium over the booming of his weapon as more Flood infectors were coming in from the West.

"Let's go!" barked a Brute. The ten squads moved as one to intercept the enemy. As fast as the Flood had stopped coming from one direction, they were coming in from another side.

"Mines! Now!" yelled another Brute. The Grunts quickly produced proximity shrapnel mines for the squad leaders to throw.

"Try not to blow your worthless hides up!" yelled one commander give a solid throw that would make any baseball pitcher proud with his left arm.

"Do _not_ let them make contact with you!" called Pavium over comms and with voice. "It is said they shall consume you in both body and mind!"

A Grunt grimaced and shuddered at the mention but kept firing at the swarming mass. "Yuck. Creepy."

Pavium called the attention of a few squads and they joined him in assaulting the nearby yellow and blue cases in a desperate bid to grab the resources inside. "They shall suffer our _wrath_!" Pavium roared turning his attention back to the conflict.

Now the Flood were again coming from the left side of the cliff, the West, just like before. "Keep them back!" Pavium said. "Do not let them overrun the area!" The Flood began coming in from both sides, and, started to trickle in from the North, or center, as well.

It was becoming all too apparent that they were losing ground. "T-they're coming from everywhere!" shrieked a Grunt.

"We must retreat, the area is lost to the Flood. All units; fall back to the first position!" yelled Pavium over the noise, activating the nearby Lightbridge.

"Run! I said _run_!" yelled a squad leader to gallivant the frightened Unggoy into action.

"Yay! Yessir!" yelled a Grunt; perhaps a little too happily. But then again, Grunts were always a little different.

"Do I have to _hurl_ you there?!" called out a commander.

" _Move_ you fools!" barked another.

"Get off the bridge!" urged Pavium at the controls. "We need to shut it down and get it secured!"

Once everyone was across, he promptly shut down the bridge and the infectors racing across it plummeted downward through the empty space left in its absence. "Ha!" said a Grunt dancing a little bit with glee and waving his hand. "Lookee! Look at 'im fall!"

"Whew," breathed another. "Safe now."

"Hold your tongues and _listen_!" snapped a Commander yanking the Grunt in the direction of the mini-base they had stationed in the small crescent-like space formed by fallen debris.

Pavium was standing and listening intently, his left hand on the side of his centurion-style helmet with its horizontal, metallic fan on top. "Voridus? Are you there?" Silence. "I am holding the line for as long as I can, but I won't be able to wait forever." Pavium's hand stabbed at two supply cases glowing blue and yellow nearby, and then he returned his focus to the comms. "Still nothing? Blast him!"

The other squads set to seeking out the nearest cases and gathered them up before following Pavium up the slope to the two-slotted base site. Orders came rapidly punctuated by hand gestures. The troops fell to their orders with the ease of a well-oiled and well-cared-for machine. "See to the wounded and prepare defenses for the next attack! They are not finished with us yet!"

"But… we safe here right? Bridge is off. Bad guys can't fly, so no more trouble. Why we need to be concerned?" a Grunt spoke up. He received a warning by the hand of his commander grabbing his shoulder. No words were needed.

"No. The Flood will not be stopped by that. The canyon is not bottomless, and the lack of the bridge means they simply climb down and up the sides to get at us. All we have done is briefly slow them. We shall not be safe until there is not a single parasite left to infect anyone."

"Pull your weight and get those resources!" called a commander as his squad, alongside another two, spotted and moved to break another two containers.

"Break open the cases! All of them! Use _everything_ that we have to strengthen our defenses!" Pavium commanded. "We need to give Voridus and his troops time to join us! Dig in!"

A few Grunts still seemed a little bit confused and the squad leaders had their hands full trying to deal with them, while others were getting scared. "Get the defenses _up_!" emphatically yelled Pavium. "We need to stagger the Flood's assault with barricades!"

"We can only place one Pavium. There isn't much in the way of materials to work with."

"Block off the leftmost slope with a shield barrier. I will call in reinforcements to back us up while I hold the right slope. The squads shall cover the center. Place turrets upon the sides."

"Pavium we cannot hold out indefinitely; and we're limited in the reinforcements we can call here. Should we call for vehicles? We definitely need stronger firepower."

"The skill and weapons of the Rangers shall serve our needs here, and the Engineers shall see to any wounds. Place mines strategically. Gather up any supplies you can that are left. My Orbital Designator shows that a massive wave shall be coming soon. Upgrade the turrets with anti-weapons for infantry."

"But the walls!" protested a Grunt. He was quickly moved back to his task by one of his companions before the commander could do anything and told to simply follow his orders.

"Colony. The Goliaths I requested, please send them in now. It is urgent." He was quiet for a moment. "And please inform Atriox. An unforeseen situation has developed. We need reinforcements. All that can be spared."

" _Goliaths. Inbound. Situation? Elaborate."_

"The Flood. We have a new outbreak upon this installation."

" _Understood. Reinforcements. Dispatching. All units."_

Pavium looked with a stricken expression at the sky and site of the Capital-ship. What was happening back there? What _had_ happened? Did his brother live? Pavium had an extended and broad family thanks to the existence of the Banished and Atriox. But there was still no substitute for blood. His brother could not be replaced in his life. _Please be alive. For it you are not… there shall be no room left in this universe for me._

A Spirit soared overhead, and with a crackling of cloud of red energy, the titanic quadrupedal forms of the Goliaths manifested. In teams of two they lumbered to the two points that needed clearing and immediately they began to pound upon the walls of debris. Loud grunts and groans indicated the tremendous effort of their thunderous blow as they slammed relentlessly against the mountain of ruined metal. "Defend the Goliaths!" called out Pavium. "They must clear out _both_ routes, or we'll have nowhere to fall back to! They need to clear a path back to the base. We shall hold the line for Voridus there, it's our best chance."

All the squads grimly fingered their weapons. They knew the stakes. This was real. This was the very enemy that the Covenant had faced and _lost_. Three squads of Ranger teams positioned themselves in the center of the arena in order to have the widest field of vision in order to accurately pick off their targets. Their extraordinary skills with the Carbine as snipers would prove invaluable. Pavium called down so mines in order to cover his side while the squads planted shrapnel mines. A grunt tripped at one point, and only quick action by the commander saved the explosive, and minion. "Watch the mines clumsy fools!" snapped the commander hurling it some distance down the slope. Two Huragok came floating in from a nearby Spirit and descended to their requested positions.

The first of the pod-like Infectors came up the ridge into visibility. "The Flood are as inexorable as the stories said," muttered Pavium from where he could see. Then his eyes widened. "What are the fools doing?" Two squads that been patrolling and scanning, for some strange reason, chose to not retreat but instead foolishly make a stand, and by the time that they realized the danger, they were surrounded and slain. Now two lumbering Brutes moved towards him alongside the many-limbed Infectors. He quietly muttered his mantra. "Show _caution_. Dead Jiralhanae win no battles."

"All units! The plan is to have a staggered retreat! If Voridus is still alive, he will need us!"

Affirmatives and acknowledgements came in. The troops trusted Pavium with their lives. His armor design resembled that of a Roman sentinel, and he was like a defender or guard. Rather than plunge in recklessly, as Voridus was want to do, typical behavior of your average Brute, Pavium was unusually cautious and analytical. Thus, his epithet: "The Unbreakable"; for he was an architect and siegemaster renowned for his discipline and prowess in combat engineering. His skill was unimpeachable, but his conflicting loyalties between brother and clan hindered his advancement in the ranks. Nevertheless, his troops could always be heard to state of their devotion and faith in him; so much so, that more than once had others willingly been prepared to die for him or follow his orders despite not understanding his reasoning. His troops could be counted on as rivaling Atriox's personal guard at times, but his pack were not desiring higher stations if it meant leaving him.

The purring, choking rattle came again as more of the Flood began to come up the canyon side and race towards the defended slopes. The mines took care of clumps for they were so close together, but it was rendered pointless in that there were ten already racing over the remains of the dead. Weapon fire struck down more as the Flood raced en masse uphill. The turrets continued their tireless tracking and firing upon designated targets. "Kill the Infected where they fall! We must not risk an acceleration in their numbers!"

Five minutes. Pavium gave a rough estimate of that much time before the Goliaths had demolished through the wreckage. It was going to be close. What they were dealing with now were just small pockets of Flood forms. They were attacking one hill for a full minute, before they attempted to climb the other. Pavium covered the far right with mortar and his target designator, which allowed him to paralyze high-value targets for extermination. The passive drone hovering near his side, a creation of the Brute's, would heal the nearby turret if it began to take too much damage. So far it was unnecessary, but there was still three minutes to go. Anything could happen in that amount of time. Less in fact. The Flood seemed to know of the Shield Barrier and instead proceeded to turn away from it and go to the center and right instead. A rather unusual display of intelligence that encouraged the thought of them being more than just mindless creatures. "Keep on fighting!" Pavium called out encouragement and motivation, standing tall and stern against the tide of death in physical form. "We shall not lose this place to these aberrations!"

Around the third minute, pressure was mounting upon both sides. The Flood's numbers kept growing bigger, until it reached the point where there was literally a never-ending stream coming at the Banished without pause. Pavium's drone was now having to work on the turret and the Engineers were also struggling to keep things together. A few more Ranger teams were supporting, but their additional firepower was not quite enough. The shrapnel mines were about to be exhausted. The squads were giving ground, being forced backward, opening the hilltop to the assault so that the Flood was no longer ascending, but now on open, level ground with them. The Engineers could not keep up with repairing the turrets. "Fight back! The Banished have not come so far to be devoured by monstrosities!" Just then there was tremendous crash. Pavium's rough estimate had been correct. The Goliaths had succeeded in finally breaking through the wreckage. It was a good thing that the Mgalekgolo were strong and all but tireless in their assigned tasks. The fact that they were bigger than the Hunters did not exactly hurt when it came to the brutal job of destruction by brute force rather than weaponry.

"Goliaths! Cover us as we fall back!" Pavium called turning from the defense of the hilltop and gesturing for all units to retreat. With a groan sparked by the slave collar, the Hurogak complied in following the retreat. The Goliaths slammed their gigantic fists into the earth in a brutish display like a gorilla, and then they charged the heaving mass of parasites chasing the pack. Bodies flew and the sound of sickening, liquid splats followed the Banished. Pavium called in a barrage upon the cleared wreckage raising dust and bringing down fresh metal and earth behind them so the path was congested once more. The "Rain of Fire" as it was called; a specialized creation of Pavium's to take the place of the lost Carrier.

He had managed to salvage lenses from the wreckage of the vessel and create specialized drones capable of handling the energy to replicate the glassing beams of the _Enduring Conviction_. The problem was the energy expenditure; the more powerful and concentrated the blasts, the longer the recharge rate and fuel demands. Rather than a circle that shrunk into a final explosive blast, or a strike that spread outward, the glassing beams spun and weaved about in a wide radius that had multiple energy beams spinning in a concentrated area so as to make escape more complicated and difficult. Its uses were only limited by the imagination and the need for sustenance.

"We have a little time before they return! Fall back to the next line, and ready the defenses!"

The troops had miraculously suffered no losses; merely all but depleted their ammunition and mines. "The Orbital Designator shows that we have a little time before the next Flood surge," called Pavium, consulting his device and the map intel it provided. "Start preparing the defenses. Repair, recharge, and heal what is needed while we have the time. They will come at us again and we must be at full strength."

"Pavium," intruded a voice over the comms. "We have been separated from the main force. We need aid if we are to join you. The pack is here to reinforce you, but we are under attack by the Flood. Several small teams are scattered near the base. If you can manage to find us, we shall lend our power to your own."

"Keep your eyes open for movement," called Pavium, signaling to the Ranger teams. "We must be ready for when they attack again. Call in a few enhanced Hunter teams. We shall need their aid. Cover the paths as best you can with our available troops and mines. Seal off the rightmost path with a Shield Barrier. I am going to find the Salvage Team in this area."

The path curved to the right and lead Pavium into sight of a Locust and two squads under assault by Infectors. A disgusting blob of fleshy mass was also nearby. It promptly swelled and exploded in an ugly cloud of brown liquid and vapor, spilling its contents on to the earth. More Infectors clawed their way out of the mass of filth from the blobs and turned to Pavium and the Rangers. Pavium's mortars, the Rangers Carbines, and the firepower of the Salvage team members quickly ate away at their numbers. But it still took several precious seconds that Pavium felt he could hardly spare. Then they were alerted to the rear and the Rangers had to run back into the dead end of the path as the Flood had snuck up on them from behind. Pavium's weaponry and the Locust quickly punched a hole in the attackers and the Rangers picked off the strays. "Come with us!" called Pavium as he thundered back to the mini-base site. "The fight is not over yet!"

The two squads and Locust were a welcome sight for the weary pack under Pavium. The paths to their new location split into four sections that had to be defended. The rightmost path could be guarded with the barrier and turret, thereby enabling the troops to more easily handle the Flood, but the other three paths posed a challenge to handle in splitting up the strength of Banished forces. The squads took the middle right path because it was the widest and needed the most coverage. Pavium took the middle left, with a few Rangers and a Hunter team backing him up. The leftmost was covered by a turret, another Shield Barrier, and the Locust.

About a minute and half since the team had managed to fall back their new position and fortify it, there was a loud rumble and the rattling, hollow noise of the Flood shook the air. The Lieutenant quickly pressed his left hand to his comm. "We need more Goliath teams. Send them in now. We must hold this second defensive line until we are able to retreat back to the base site we established. Have you managed to contact Atriox? Any communications from Voridus or other teams?"

" _None. Communication… sporadic. Signal. Struggling. Huragok compensate. Strengthen. Boost. Flood jamming possible. Brother unaccounted for. Teams inbound. Origin of outbreak; unknown. Relaying message. Chosen will hear. Inform Warchief. Status of Salvage Team?"_

"We are holding the line, but the Flood have more numbers and paths with which to engage us. We are fighting to gather our scattered pack brothers, but we cannot save everyone. Current status is that we engaged in a fighting retreat. We must obtain information if we are to develop a plan of counter measurements. We cannot do that without knowledge of the origin of this outbreak. Unless Voridus contacts us, we are blind and ignorant."

" _Priority one: Survive. Brother. Tertiary objective. Risk of existence. Unwise. Disengage from enemy. Swiftly as possible. Gather at secure location. Wait for War Chieftain."_

"I will hold the line. I will not believe he is lost, unless it is confirmed. I will not abandon those on the battlefield to die at the hands of the parasite. Please continue to gather the forces that you can and relay the information to Atriox. We have no choice if we are to survive. Retreat from the Ark is not an option."

" _Goliaths. Arriving."_

"We'll hold here until the next barriers have been breached. Keep them back! Do not allow them near! And keep those Goliaths alive!" Pavium's order was easily understood, but with three teams of Goliaths and four paths, this would be easier said than done. The Flood had an easier task of overrunning the flat plains, then pressing forward and crushing resistance by virtue of their numbers. It was a classic tactic that demanded the strictest of perfection to counter it, considering the enemy. The flat plain they rested upon had only a slight elevation making the path easy to climb. The pressure would be much greater here. They must keep the enemy at a distance. It was absolutely imperative that they do so.

"The plan is this troops: Defend the Goliaths, or we shall be overrun by the Flood. We cannot afford to lose any more than one team, if even that. Pick your targets well and use your tools wisely. Discipline, path brothers."

"Yes Pavium," came the reply.

"Time to make a name for myself!" yelled the Grunt in the Locust.

"Estimated time frame?" called an Elite. The Flood were in visible range now. A few Elites and Brutes could be spotted stumbling up the path. Where had they been that they had been taken by the parasite? Had they been under the command of Voridus?

"I give a hopeful estimate of maybe five to six minutes. I could be wrong."

"Then it shall be tight, but not out of the question that we shall successfully defend this place for a time," the Elite Ranger coolly replied to Pavium's answer. Still his hands tightened on his Carbine. Five, maybe six minutes. "Tight" was a nice word for the predicament they were in. This area was large. If the Flood got through on any one of the defenses, they could start performing a sweep in which they began to encircle the defenders and assault them from the front and the back.

"The Flood turn our own pack brothers against us! Put them out of their misery! No living creature, save fools like the Prophets, deserve this!" yelled Pavium launching several mortars at the Infected Troops.

"Even humans?" squeaked out a Grunt. The Commander who lead him would have clubbed the Grunt in the face for a such a statement, but he was busy shooting Spikes as calmly and accurately as he could. Still, the question did have its merits. Was it wrong to think that humans deserved to be consumed by these things?

"Even _humans_ don't deserve this!" roared Pavium, his shout punctuated by the thunder of weapon fire.

There was a brief silence, in terms of words, amongst the Banished. Then it broke. "Pavium!" yelled a commander, looking behind them and gesturing emphatically. "They're coming out of the ground now!" Indeed, he was right, for with a rumble and slimy pop, a blob of flesh pushed up from the ground and exploded with a sickening sound. The "Flood Burster", as Pavium had labeled it, was just a massive, disgusting way for the Flood to produce more Infectors with ease. The blobs would grow and swell to the breaking point and finally erupt like popped cists, releasing more Infectors at the point of eruption. One minute and thirty seconds had passed. It didn't matter to the desperate defenders. What mattered was that the Goliaths were threatened.

"They are spreading out beneath the substructures! The Flood is adapting new ways to combat us amid their assault! We must prevent this, but first we must find a safehold! Get rid of the Bursters _now_! We cannot permit a two-pronged attack on our defensive lines!"

The noise in the region was devastating to the ears. The groans and huffs of the Goliaths as they relentlessly hammered on the stubborn wall of debris, the discharging of weapons and explosions of mines, the shrieking, squealing forms of the parasite, the unnatural and disturbing cries of the infected and their grotesque movements, the yells and battle cries of the Banished troops. Everything combined to create a hellish chaos that assured any observer that this was no simple conflict but a battle of desperate survival. And the one thing that rose above the din: that purring, rattling, hollow sound that always seemed to proceed ahead of another surge of the parasite. It chilled even Pavium's battle-hardened soul down to its core.

With a rattle and choking cough, tearing up the ground like its name, a Chopper came rolling up… on the side of the Flood. The thing shook and trembled in a disturbing fashion, punctuated by the ugly sight of biological mass, or flesh, spread across its exterior. "The Flood is sending in infected _vehicles_ now!" yelled Pavium. "Flood threat from the West!"

"But the parasite is incapable of taking machines!" yelled a commander. "How?!"

"I don't know, but it has an infected pilot at its helm!" Infected troops were known, from past experience and observations of the Covenant, to take vehicles and use them, but this… this was something different from before. There would be time, perhaps, to understand this new phenomenon, but that was only assuming they survived, and most important of all, it proved the Flood was changing and growing more deadly.

More rumbling and disgusting blobs pushing out of the earth. "More Flood Bursters! Flood spews from the eruptions! Destroy the filth that pours from it!" Pavium's command was quickly answered by the massive Lekgola. They lumbered over and trained their weapons on the blobs. One quickly disintegrated while the other two successfully exploded, their bloated forms releasing Infectors and turned troops.

The Flood were applying pressure on the two paths to the east, and now an infected Chopper or two were attacking. One was on the rightmost eastern path, the other took the center left. The Shield Barriers were starting to undergo pressure from the range of the Choppers. The Hunters were being put to the test, for theirs were the more effective tools against vehicles out of all the ground troops. Only Pavium had equal firepower. He too was being forced to divide his attention amongst the paths more and more.

The mines were helpful, but the shrapnel explosives had been exhausted and the specialized ones took time to deploy for it took more resources in their creation. The troops were slowly being pushed back. Four long torturous minutes had passed. The Hurogak were being forced to turn away from the barriers, turrets, and troops, to protect and keep the Goliaths alive as more and more Bursters were appearing with increasing frequency. The delay between new arrivals and waves were slowly shrinking. The Flood was attacking from multiple angles, including beneath the very feet of the Banished. The Turrets were enhanced to deal with infantry, not machines. There was too much pressure and not enough resources to fight for upgrading them.

"Flood threat from all sides! Repeat, all sides!" The Orbital Designator did not lie. There were readings across both entrances into the area, and the parasites were now swarming across all four paths and every intersection that lead to the where the Banished were entrenched. The Elites were being tested by the Choppers taking aim at them, as if knowing they could do little harm to them. The Infected troops were becoming more numerous in number amongst the never-ending stream of Infectors.

The Grunt Squads were forced to abandon the garrisons in order to avoid becoming isolated and decimated. The troops were being forced away from the entrances in order to avoid being picked off, but this made them clump together and gave more space to the enemy. Despite their best efforts, they were being attacked not on two, but rather _three_ sides. The only thing that the Flood did not command was the sky. Pavium felt a troubling thought surface.

 _How far? How far have the Flood evolved and adapted? Out of sight, and somewhat out of mind, for four years, they have been in the darkness of High Charity. What else are they capable of now that we have yet to see? How far_ can _they go?_

Four minutes and forty-five seconds. Pavium risked a partial glance at the still-active forms of the Goliaths. How much longer? How dense was that wall? They could not keep holding here for much longer. Not without proper armaments. The Hurogak were being forced to use their overshields more and were struggling to avoid being targeted. "Stand fast!" Pavium called out his encouragement. "It is Atriox whom you should fear! Not them!"

The reach of the Locust's weapon was helping, but only so much. The Rain of Fire helped choke up the most congested area, but it was a mere delaying of the inevitable.

KROOM! "The Goliaths have broken through!" roared Pavium to be heard over the Flood and battle. "Retreat back to the base and fortify it!" He gestured emphatically for the troops to withdraw. "Goliaths, cover us!"

Pavium consulted the designator… "The Flood are _already_ at the base! Hurry! We must clear them out lest we lose our only chance!" All feet hurried at the mention of the threat. So fast; they were already spreading farther and faster than would have been estimated.

Within mere seconds, they heard yelling and screeching. The Few squads that had remained standing watch were doing battle with the enemy, but it was pitiful what they could do. Some new Flood form was also attacking alongside the Infectors. Whatever it was, it was gross. "The Infected are using our own vehicles against us! The Flood are adapting new forms and tactics with which to combat us! We must act quickly and decisively!" Pavium's mortars heralded the arrival of the pack.

"Hail brothers!" yelled a Commander with obvious relief and joy at the sight. "We thought perhaps you had succumbed! Quickly! Before we are overrun!"

"Don't let 'em destroy the big building thingy!" yelled a Grunt.

"Yeah!" agreed another. "Destroy them nasty Flood!" Pavium's drone floated from its usual place, hovering near his left shoulder, and set to concentrating its healing potential upon the structure.

"Prepare the defenses. Incoming enemies."

"Yes Pavium. In fact, scattered reports suggest a widespread attack. It is possible that other nearby bases are already under threat. What of your brother? We have been under attack by these strange new forms. These-these—"

"Let us call them Infestors for now." Pavium was scanning the terrain behind them, hand on helmet. "Attention, pack brothers! We make our final stand here!" The Jiralhanae busied themselves with preparations and re-arming. "I left far too many Jiralhanae upon the battlefield during the Covenant War! I shall not abandon Voridus, or his brethren, to a terrifying fate!"

The Lieutenant pointed at a nearby hillside. "Recover those nearby Blisterbacks. We shall need the additional firepower if we are to hold even briefly. If Voridus or one of his pack contact us I want to know of it immediately." The Banished had been working upon an improvement to the deadly machines that allowed the internal AI of the craft to be set up as an automatic firing machine. The machines could be set to simply rest upon the ground and attack non-Banished targets. The pilot was not needed to fire the deadly payloads of missiles they possessed. They only needed to sense the presence of nearby Banished troops in order to revive to full activity. However, the machines would need to be defended as they would not take to the air. It was a fortunate thing the salvage team had left them in groupings of three near the base. The Hurogak departed to quickly revive the three groups that were at triangular points, two of them cliffs, near the base. Pavium and the Hunter teams left with the Rangers to aid the last isolated groups from the Salvage team that were scattered near the base as they had attempted to regroup near it in the first signs of an attack.

"Honor Guard ready to serve," called the voice of an Elite over comms. Good, the advanced troops were deploying upon the field to the relief of Pavium. The Extractors and Harvesters were quickly augmented and soon Wraiths were joining the ranks of the pack. Another two Locusts were under assault by the Flood, both of them accompanied by a squad, and Pavium quickly secured them, along with two energy nodes, and a third, garrisoned squad. Burnout, a specialized field of Pavium's creation to increase the output of targeted structures within its range, was made ready for the moment of need in the assault.

Three Locusts made for a fine addition to the rest of the firepower that the whole pack under Pavium's command possessed. The Hunter teams were strong with their augmented beam cannons as anything caught in the line of the beam while they attacked a target was also damaged. The vehicles would not fare to well against them, while the Locust's range would help strike targets from considerable range. The Wraiths would provide mobile firepower and versatility alongside the sniper skills of the Elites. The Blisterbacks were the ace in this conflict, making them the most valuable target and vital to protect. Enhanced Turrets and a Shield tower helped cover the base and make it more of a struggle to destroy it.

The "Wall" was now ready; all that remained was to ensure that it weathered the assault. A task easier said than done, but not one necessarily impossible. Shield Barriers guarded the two southernmost paths towards the base, while the troops filled in the gaps to the Northeast and Northwest. There were a few garrisons, but only a few squads volunteered to entrench themselves. It was the best choice to remain mobile so as to not be so easily overrun. The Marauders were far too expensive an investment for the tight quarters they were now in, for the field of battle was an open plain that was like a circle, dotted with pits in various places, making the paths twist and turn in odd directions. It would not affect the attackers so much as it would the defenders. A vehicle that was designed for speed and aggressive assaults would fail. Not adaptation was called for. Prayerfully, they could succeed where the Covenant could not: simply endure; survive.

The hollow, purring sound made the ground and air seem to vibrate. Hands tightened on weapons and controls to vehicles. Every nerve drew tight and taut, ready for action. Adrenaline, equal parts fear and defiance, flowed through the circulatory systems of all present in the pack. "The Flood renew their assault! Steel yourselves!" called Pavium.

How long? How long could they hold? It did not matter the duration; they _must_ hold! To fail was unthinkable! Pavium could not surrender and relent; not when his brother was still out there! Pavium called down a few mines to defend the Northwest path, while squads planted shrapnel mines to the Northeast path. The Honor guard had his cloak ready and prepared. None the less, Pavium had voiced concern over its effectiveness against the unusual sensory abilities of the Flood. But in a pinch, lack of ability to be targeted by sight would aid them, and the Honor Guard was well trained to be a terror on the battlefield when hidden from sight.

"Ready yourselves!" yelled out a squad leader upon sighting the teaming masses of Infectors scuttling on their many limbs across the ground.

"Let's go _get 'em_!" yelled out one of the Locust pilots.

Pavium launched a few shots to break up the crowded path. " _Discipline_ , pack brothers."

The turrets were upgraded with anti-infantry and anti-vehicle armaments in order to combat the threat. So far, they had not been necessary in order to deal with the threat, despite the Flood slowly coming down the two paths to the North. Pavium consulted his designator during a brief pause between the waves of attacking parasites. "They are attacking from _behind_ us!"

"The enemy is here!" yelled a squad leader as he led the charge towards the base's rear.

"Taking out targets," calmly stated a Sangheili, shooting with precision as the Flood began assaulting the two shield barriers protected by turrets. The forked path to the South also began to have vehicles coming roaring down it. Infected Choppers, naturally, for they were very fast. Any other vehicles would soon follow. The Honor Guard noted this and redirected the attention of the Lekgola towards the southernmost entrance to counter this.

The thunderous salvos of missiles from the Blisterbacks were salvation for the weary troops. Each strike took out many an Infector or Infected troop, and the vehicles could only weather such an assault so well. But then… " _Pavium_! The ground! They assault the base!"

It was a quick evaluation by the Honor Guard's nimble eyes. Indeed, there were multiple holes in the earth, about five to six in total, surrounding the site of the base. "Those weren't there before!" yelled out the squad leader who had been taking care of the base in Pavium's absence. "Where and when did those come from?!"

 _The Flood is rapidly establishing its presence throughout the entire sector: upon the ground and below it. Soon there shall be nothing of this place but the Flood; and then it shall spread onward from there, and on, and on…_ thought Pavium. The presence of the parasite was growing at a most formidable pace indeed, for only a minute after this observation, a new terror came out of the ground.

"Tentacles!" roared Pavium in anger at the sight of fleshy long appendages resembling worms, yet, coiling and striking as if they were whips. " _Cut them down_! The shield and the vehicles will not hold out under this kind of assault!"

The Locusts quickly redirected and concentrated their ranged firepower upon the long and threatening appendages. They were slender in appearance but were thick and corded with muscle and sinew that resisted even the firepower of the Blisterbacks; though they seemed to react more violently to the impact of the missiles than the beam weapons.

Though none knew it, five whole minutes had elapsed; five minutes in which finally one squad fell. The Southernmost hill was also under heavy siege. The Honor Guard had swiftly activated a Lightbridge near the hillside and set to work defending it; but he was forced to retreat lest he be overrun by the steady assault from the southern path that also scaled the cliffside.

The Banished troops were beginning to suffer steady wounds and struggling to prioritize targets. There were simply too many of them. The tentacles were the biggest threat, but the greatest target, other than the base, were the Blisterbacks. One group had fallen leaving only the turrets and shield barriers, now fallen too, covering the rear entrance. "We cannot leave here until we hear from Voridus!" roared Pavium over the din, as he repulsed another tentacle, sending it retreating into the "earth", while the ever-present drone by his side repaired the structures nearby. "Stem the tide!"

Infected Brutes and Sangheili were stumbling along the southern path while Infectors were now coming from all three paths. Burnout was immediately applied in desperation, for the shield had fallen because of the constant hammering, and they needed replacement Wraiths quickly for the pilots. When the vehicles were destroyed, the Elites abandoned them in order to continue fighting. The fighting was getting thick and difficult. The Infectors scuttled like spiders across the ground and leapt at any target in reach, and the Infected troops lumbered along attacking with whatever weapons they possessed in the most disturbing fashion.

A tense, drawn out, two more minutes passed… and then silence. No tentacles, no scuttling parasites, no turned Banished troops. It was over so quickly that the sudden stop was startling. Pavium kept his cool. "They gone?" squeaked out a Grunt nervously.

"And that's what happens when you mess with _us_!" yelled out a squad leader. He was fighting to keep up morale. He had been sweating heavily during the battle and now he was fighting not to show how strained his nerves were from the fingering of his weapon. Click. Click. Empty. Just as the fight ended, he had run out of ammo. Too close for comfort.

"We have suffered injuries," calmly stated an Elite Ranger.

A groan came from the Lekgola. They had been targeted pretty heavily and needed the Engineers most urgently. Two more squads had fallen, one under a Brute, and the second was a Ranger team.

"Though I am wounded, still shall I serve," stated the Honor Guard hoisting his weapon up for emphasis.

"They have stopped… for now." Pavium turned back to the base. The turrets were badly damaged, and the Shield Tower had taken a nasty beating that the drone had only just enabled the machine to endure. Now, the drone was quickly fixing it alongside the Engineers. Pavium consulted his designator. Nothing. How was this possible? He did not sigh with relief; he felt his entire body chill with dread. What was about to happen? "Repair and heal what's needed while we have the time. We must be at full strength. See to the wounded and make sure none are infected!"

"I'm gonna start callin' myself the 'Locust of _Doom_ '", yelled out one of the drivers. "Power! So! Much! Power!"

" _Quiet_ fools!" snapped one of the squad leaders. He was urgent enough that all fell silent and Pavium looked up from his desperate scanning. Had he seen something?

"It cannot surely be over," whispered an Elite.

A rumble from one of the Hunters. It could conceivably be translated as meaning concern, fear, confusion. Their movements were a bit agitated. Pavium could easily understand. All had replenished their ammo and the Engineers had helped mend any wounds and broken machinery, but the sense of danger clung heavily like thick fog all over. None felt safe.

The Honor Guard was moving his blade back and forth indicating his agitation and need for ability to strike at the unseen foe. His grip was so tight upon his weapon handle that his hand hurt.

Nothing but silence. This was completely unnerving. "Don't let your guard down. They _will_ return," said Pavium.

"But they not show," muttered a Grunt. "What going on?"

"An excellent query," Pavium said, just as bothered by the lack of activity. Had they actually beaten them back? Because it simply…

"They're back! Take them out before they destroy the base!" The ground rumbled and tentacles burst forth like spears, the air trembled under the voice of an unspeakable number, the ground trembled as terrifying numbers raced upon it.

" _No one_ shall stop me!" yelled the Honor Guard racing to strike down his foes.

"Executing enemies," calmly stated the Rangers, targeting their foes with dead calm and then simply squeezing the trigger.

"Leave me _alone_!" screamed out a Locust. He was out of position, but the landscape was no longer suitable for the position the banished troops were in.

"Their trying to surround us!" yelled Pavium, now at the top of his lungs to be heard, for the chorus of the Flood had become exceedingly loud in volume and intensity.

Squealing, shrieking forms were beginning to blanket the ground and overwhelm all routes of escape. Pavium took a desperate glance at his Orbital Designator. "The enemy strike from all sides! Repeat: All sides! Do not stop fighting! Resist! Stand your ground!"

"Gah! We shall _still_ win!" yelled out a squad leader. He was sweating and beginning to gasp for air. His battle-hardened body was beginning to grow weary. The Blisterbacks were under assault and nobody could reach them now save the Engineers, who were overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the task before them.

Infected vehicles were now beginning to join in a steady stream those Infectors already present upon the field. "Pavium!" yelled out a Ranger. "I see no end to our foes! We can no longer maintain this kind of defense!"

"I have lost some of the weaklings!" yelled out a squad leader.

"The Barriers have fallen!" called out the Honor Guard rushing towards the southern entrance. "Don't let them through!" The Four Engineers quickly set to the task as swiftly as possible of saving the shield tower. The tentacles were returning with terrifying swiftness. Fast as they were driven underground, they returned.

"Do you not understand that we shall win?! You will _not_ prevail!" yelled the Honor Guard. He immediately was forced to dodge yet another slam upon the ground by a tentacle. Every time they struck, the shield over the base was strained to its limit, and the troops struggled to hold their balance because of the tremors.

"We cannot leave until we have heard from Voridus! Stem the tide!"

The Blisterbacks were gone. The enemy was now flooding into the open area and striking at the base. The shield was being hammered repeatedly. They could not… "…vium. Pavium!"

"Brother!?"

"Pavium this is Voridus! My brutes and I barely escaped from High Charity!"

Pavium dodged a mighty slap from a tentacle and responded with several blasts. "You live!" His voice was mixed emotions, equal parts disbelief and relief, and then turned harsh. "What madness has been released upon us? Is this _your_ doing?!"

"I did not believe any of the tales. They simply appeared from out of nowhere and forced us back!" Pavium was forced to dodge again and go to the aid of Honor Guard as he sought to save a besieged Wraith. "During our retreat, we passed by a Forerunner structure with an entrance that leads below ground. My engineers believe it to be connected to the Forerunner defenses I shut down earlier."

Pavium could not keep the exasperation and desperation out of his voice. "Then what are you waiting for? Get inside there and start them up again! Now!"

"Brother! We cannot break through the Flood in order to reach it! We are at the power support site that you established earlier but have already lost many to the parasite!"

Pavium's expression hardened with determination and fury. "Stand fast! We are on our way to help you break the lines!"

The Jiralhanae Lieutenant turned back to the beleaguered troops. "We cannot hold upon this sector any longer! Abandon the base! Repeat! All troops! Abandon the base!"

The Flood converged upon the massive structure and within only a matter of perhaps twenty to thirty seconds at most it fell. The troops were all to eager to retreat. They had resisted the Flood's assault for twelve to fifteen agonizing minutes. Bursters were erupting from the ground, so they were fortunate to be retreating when they were.

The Honor Guard suddenly halted and snatched hold of Pavium. A blessing in disguise for suddenly the path the Lieutenant was charging down was blocked by a massive, thick fleshy wall that slithered over from the rightmost canyon and over into the left. If Pavium had not been stopped, he would have been crushed or pushed over the edge to his doom. "What!? The size of that thing! Its- Voridus! Our way to you has been blocked! We'll need to find another path! We cannot come directly to you!"

"Please be quick brother! The Flood is rapidly overtaking this sector as well!"

 _Such speed… How far? How far had they come? How far could they go? Until nothing was capable of stopping them?_

Tentacles erupted upon the side of the path. "Do not stop running!" Pavium urged desperately. "Don't stop brothers! If we do, we shall be overrun!"

The Honor Guard spun and charged against the tide. "For the fallen! I will not let these sacrifices be in vain! I do this for my clan! Go!"

"Abandoning vehicles!" yelled out the lead Wraith pilot. He had set his to autopilot and quickly left it to fight against the Infectors racing after the troops.

"I shall not forget this!" roared out Pavium in grief. "You _will_ be avenged!"

" _No one_ shall _stop_ me! Ancestors sharpen my blade! My sword shall cut down even fate itself!"

The shrieking of the parasites was an awful chorus at their backs as they kept running. The Locusts and a team of Hunters fell due to their lumbering pace. "Send out a blast from the turrets! Close proximity!" called out Pavium as he fired his mortars at the Flood racing down the path at them.

A large and powerful blast sounded further up the path and with a sizzling roar impacted upon the ground behind the troops, scattering the Flood and saving the last of the Hunters.

"That will hold them long enough! Let's go!"

He raced past the large, enhanced turret, and was free, along with those few surviving troops and two engineers left to him. "Voridus. We have made it out. Hold on."

The last was more of a desperate prayer in his own heart begging it be reality. And while he ran, violence and chaos, with shouts and shrieks, continuously filled the air.

 **. . . . . .**

 _ **"This is not your grave... but you are welcome in it."**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Death and Bonds**

Scattered reports everywhere. The Brute, Krakus by name, was trying to find the main force. He had heard the panicked calls by Voridus ordering a retreat from High Charity. He could tell something was wrong. Pavium had sent orders to regroup, but he could not find the path; there was too much debris still piled up from the fallen Halo. He growled in frustration. It felt like a terrible threat was looming right over him, like something oppressive was stepping down upon him, and he longed only to rise up in defiance of it. It was a thing most ugly in the mind of Krakus: to feel a threat that could not be felt, to know it was there but not see it, not hear it, to have the senses fail to name it.

Stars fall down upon them all, but where was the path? A rustling through the trees. He brandished his twin Spikers. The enemy was… here? A figure fell on the ground and scrambled on hands and knees to get back up in desperation. A _human_. Krakus readied to kill him. He didn't even seem to fear the Brute. "Run!" he yelled finally getting his feet and not even trying to protect himself or concern with anything except that which was his fear.

Then Krakus heard it… and _smelled_ it. Now he knew why the human was running, and the wild look in his eyes. It was fear; primal fear. He knew he wasn't in a proper place to fight what was coming. The ground was trembling underneath the many "feet" that were racing upon it. Jiralhanae never entertain the idea of running but Krakus knew that to run, for the moment, was to live.

For something so big, a Brute may move when the occasion demands it, and so Krakus found himself catching up with the human despite the initial head-start he had. "Human!" yelled Krakus. "Go elsewhere! I do not wish your presence with me!"

"Too bad!" he yelled back, managing to keep up with his enemy as both ran in the same direction. The Brute growled in anger but ignored the soldier. "I don't care what you think! I just know that we need to run!"

What was with this human? He made no sense. They were enemies were they not?

Their running, desperate feet lead them to… a cliff! Cornered! "Ah great!" groaned the soldier. Then he did the strangest thing. The sounds of that which pursued them were getting louder, yet the soldier stopped trying to find a way to get out of the obstacle that blocked them on three sides. He instead positioned himself near the opening of the u-shaped area, and promptly chambered a round in his weapon. He looked back. "Get out of here. I can stall them. Got plenty of ammunition, and I ain't gonna live forever anyway. Besides, running gets boring and tiresome."

"Human? Flee? Me?!" Krakus snapped aghast. "And you protect me?!" He drew his weapons. "You insult me!"

"Didn't I say to get outta here?!" snapped the man. "Just cause we're enemies doesn't mean you should be killed by these things!"

"You know what is coming… and still… you would…"

"Got a grenade or two. I'll make sure that there's nothing really left of me to use."

Krakus' mind was in turmoil. Humans were the enemy. Atriox… what would he think in such a situation as this? It made his head hurt, because he could not have ever dreamed of such a situation as this. An enemy was going to give his life… for him?

Thump. Thump. The soldier looked at his right. Krakus was standing there. "I have my weapons," he drew the twin Spikers, "and when they are useless, then I have my hammer."

"Thought I told you to run, but whatever."

"Human. Your name."

"Bruthers, but my friends call me Brutus. Not sure why but I never decided to ask. Yours?"

"Krakus, for I am a beast of war. I make things sound terrible as I break them with my bare hands. I am a breaker of things." He turned to Bruthers. "Human, do not be quick to die. It is I who cannot retreat. I am saved by you, and return alive unto my brethren, then my shame shall be enough to make Atriox personally kill me. Besides, I grow weary of running in blind fear. The hall of those who face death without fear awaits me. I shall have many trophies to commemorate my journey into unending glory."

"Then let's go together. There comes a time when we humans too grow weary of running. Even humans can take joy in the glory of giving everything they have to the very end. To the death. And may neither of us be quick to perish."

" _ **Together**_." Krakus' spirit was inspiring indeed, and Bruther's own words had lit something in the Brute that he could not name, but he could feel it.

The trees trembled and the ground rumbled. The forest view was broken by the dozens of ugly shapes that exploded out of it at the two combatants. Krakus aimed every spike with calm and unnerving precision. Bruthers was shooting every round with a calmness he had never experienced before.

Infected troops came lumbering out of woods. A human or two, but mostly Sangheile and Jiralhane. "Brothers," growled Krakus. "This desecration shall I not forgive."

"Sorry guys," said Bruthers. "Rest in peace. All I can hope for."

The many forms of the parasite leapt at them, but they did not fall. They held the cliff, their backs facing, but not touching, it. They shot them, beat them, kicked them; they refused to fall. "Come to Brutus," chuckled Bruthers unable to help himself, laughing at the irony of everything in this situation. He felt alive and he loved that feeling. His was the joy of simply living in the present moment.

The same was of his companion. "Come foul abominations! Come all! You are but trophies to carry in a mighty sack upon my back to the halls of glory unending! Come! Krakus shall embrace you all!"

"Don't die _easy_!" yelled Bruthers, his gun still singing.

"And die _worthy_!" roared Krakus impaling an Abomination with his last spikes.

The enemy pressed them relentlessly. There was simply no ending. Krakus' mighty strength was being taxed. Bruthers was at the point where the grenades, knife, and his fists, were all that he would have left.

Then, it all exploded into a shocking moment. Bruthers was speared from behind. Krakus saw it all. But the mortal man did not go down. He cut himself free of the ugly tendrils of the Abomination that had struck a mortal blow against him. He pulled out the explosives and prepared to jump at his foes, but two shots came from the outermost edges of the field of combat. An infected Sangheili Ranger with its Carbine caught the man in both of his shoulders so that his arms were useless. He had no chance as he was snatched by the Abomination's other limb into the swarming mass of his foes.

"BRUTUS!" yelled Krakus in such anguish and horror at the sight of his companion in battle being taken from even the ability to die a proper death and changed into a tool of these things. Legends at times in the culture of the Jiralhanae spoke of how a legendary power and strength born of the purest of emotion could seize a soul and make it more terrifying than any enemy you could ever face. Krakus was overcome with such a force. A red haze consumed his sight, but his mind was not stolen by his wrath.

His hammer was unstoppable force. His anger seemed to make it glow red like a sun in its death throes, like the red of freshly spilled blood staining the earth. Krakus was so mighty and terrible, one almost looking at him might have thought his size had doubled, that the Flood seemed to actually retreat from him. But still his enemies pressed upon him. It mattered not. Roaring at the top of his lungs his grief and pain at the loss of a being he had come in such a short time to consider an actual friend and brother on the field of battle, Krakus slew left and right, seeking only to make them pay for this action. "Death! DEATH! _DEATH_! _**DEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTHHH**_!"

The whole of the cliffside and forest echoed with the mighty last stand of the warrior. Until at last his great strength began to vanish into the air. The Flood at last began to crash down upon the Brute, yet he did not fall. His hammer descended with one final blow upon the fallen explosives and it was a blow like no other yet made. Krakus struck so hard that his hammer broke apart, and the magnetic force of the impact seemed to amplify the explosion, so that it appeared to all but _shatter_ the cliffside where the battle was fought. The force of the impact crashed against the earth causing it to collapse in a mighty rockslide, great boulders and slabs of rock raining and crashing, slaying and burying many.

Thus, perished two most unlikely allies joined by a simple desire in the final day and moments of their lives. But it was not the end. Krakus suddenly found himself adorned in the finest of raiment of the most noble of Jiralhanae. A great door of indescribable quality loomed before him. Then it opened to reveal… Bruthers. He was clad in the finest of clothing that no warrior in all of creation could make too.

"My friend!" gasped Krakus in wonder.

"I waited for you." He extended his hand with a smile. Everything about him was perfect. "Come. Together."

Krakus smiled. "A journey together without end." He walked forward without fear to his reward. "Thank you, my true friend."


End file.
